We were going so strong on our minimalism challenge, but we dropped off the wagon about two weeks in. (We’re getting back at it though.) My mother recently moved into a smaller house and kept saying she needed to get around to downsizing her tools. So I, being the practical person that I am and hoping to help her out while collecting a few practical items for Mr. Handsome, asked if she wanted us to help her go through them. And she very much did. But we ended up with more than a few.
I left Mother and Mr. Handsome in the basement while I went upstairs, and when I returned ninety minutes later, they had collected a huge cardboard box that was bursting at the seams. I don’t even think we would have been able to lift it up the stairs and into the car, so I spend another ninety minutes organizing it.
“Mr. Handsome, what is this?” I asked, more than a few times. “I’m not sure, but it looks useful,” he would reply. I gently reminded him about his minimalism challenge, and we took some items out of the box.
One item made me laugh out loud. It was a kit that helps you cut a perfect hole into a door to mount a handle. It looked like one of those as-seen-on-TV things that wouldn’t work well in real life. “Honey, I don’t think we are going to use this,” I told Mr. H. “All our doors have handles,”
“I know, but there’s a little drill bit in it that I want,” he replied. “Then let’s open it up, take the drill bit out, and pitch the rest,” I suggested. “That just seems like too much work,” he answered.
Hopefully you aren’t too disappointed in us. That being said, I guess it is good that we are getting rid of other needless stuff to make room for the tools. After all, I am all about practical stuff that we see a clear need for. I guess if we keep the new tools organized in the garage, it won’t clutter our lives too much. Here are pictures of some of the things we have pitched. If you are joining us for the minimalist challenge, what things have you gotten rid of?
A fishing pole that came with out house. Mr. H doesn’t use it…
Lights from our front walkway that were never bright enough to begin with. Actually, they were complete pieces of junk. When we had cousins visit, they pulled them out, and I saw no reason to put them back…
A glass cup that doesn’t match our set…
A chopping maul that broke. Mr. H was saving it to fix, but when we determined that fixing it would cost him a few hours in time and almost as much money as a new one, we opted to buy a new one…
Books that Mr. Handsome has either read or doesn’t plan to…
A bag of toys and stuffed animals that Little Buddy doesn’t play with…